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Tagged Microsoft

“The reality is that calling a business a ‘tech company’ is a ploy to make it sound exciting to potential consumers and investors, not a method of assigning greater meaning,” aruges David Yanofsky for Quartz. “The moniker says nothing about what type of company it actually is, only that it is a business that uses at least one technology to provide its product or service.”

He goes on, “The era of tech companies is over. To stay competitive in today’s marketplaces, every company, by the current standard, could be called a tech company, which of course, is another way of saying that none of them should be.”

I’ve been using Google’s new Chromebook for over a month now. I use it a lot, often times reaching for it over my Macbook.

Why? It starts and stops faster. In a single second even. It connects to the internet faster. In seconds, mind you. The thing is quick and lightweight. Much like a tablet computer or iPad.

Better still, the Chromebook has a full-size but no-nonsense keyboard, making it the faster and better input device when compared to tablets. And it has a lot more “apps” than closed-system tablets.

Admittedly, the trackpad is finicky. But overall, I’m very impressed with the Chromebook, especially as it’s replaced some of the functions I used to prefer on either my desktop or laptop. It might be the best living-room laptop ever made. And it’s a great travel option as well.

If manufacturers price this thing under $300, I think it will make significant waves in the computing world upon release this summer.

I watched the Google Chrome OS demo today and came away impressed. The product won’t meet the need of power-users, producers, and mult-media creators. But for everyone else, including power-users when they don’t need extra power, Chrome OS is the first legitimate consumer rival for both Macintosh and Windows I’ve ever seen. Much more so than Linux ever was (at least in a consumer sense).

Some highlights about Chrome OS, which has a planned release of “mid-2011” in select Acer and Samsung laptops:

“Nothing but the Web.”

Chrome OS features a fast and simple setup process, remarkably fast boot times and an instant resume feature to minimize wait time when the OS wakes from sleep.

Unified experience across Chrome on netbooks, desktops and more.

Multiple user support and guest mode — everything a user does in guest mode is private and history is deleted instantly when a session is ended.

Verizon Wireless cellular data connectivity (international options are available as well) in every Chrome OS notebook/netbook — no contracts, no activation fees and monthly plans starting at $9.99.

Updates are seamless — no user operations are required to update the OS or apps.

Most secure OS in the world — security is a major focus of Chrome OS; all Chrome OS data is encrypted by default.

Verified boot — core OS components are in firmware that cannot be modified.

Enterprise options — Google is working closely with partners like Citrix to ensure the enterprise market is addressed.

Google’s Chrome OS PCs get faster over time, not slower like other PCs.

Initial manufacturing partners include Acer, Samsung and Intel.

Will Chrome OS overtake the world? No. But I could see it becoming as ubiquitous as Google’s own Gmail, if not bigger. Which is huge.

In other words, watch this space. Desktop computing is about to change. If only in how we store an access many of our files.

I’ve been playing with Kinect over the past few days, and I gotta say: It’s the most significant consumer product the company’s released since Windows 95. It’s not a home run—at least not yet. But it’s definitely a double stretching for a triple.

I don’t despise Microsoft. I still use XP (alongside OS X on my Mac). Xbox 360 can be a fun time. And Word is still a must for professional document design (GoogleDocs is too limited in some cases). But in recent years, I’ve started to like Microsoft less and less. The reason? They follow the leader now instead of carving their own path. Says long-time tech columnist John C. Dvorak: “Microsoft is a software company. It has been distracted too easily by the success of others in essentially unrelated fields.”

Too support this claim, Dvorak convincingly mentions Microsoft’s ambitions to launch a Google-killer, iPod-killer, and Apple Store-killer… all at the same time! Previously the company tried to be an AOL-killer, Netscape-killer (that didn’t make any money), book-maker, toy-maker, and Photoshop-killer… all while Microsoft Office/Enterprise—the company’s bread and butter—brought in the real money. Frankly, I’m not sure Microsoft has pioneered an original idea in the last 15 years.

The above ad is better than the Seinfeld mashup, but it doesn’t make using a PC feel any cooler. Plus, the soft response to Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ads only make me think of Apple, not Microsoft. Sorry, but again, this is fail.

Apple is looking like what Microsoft was 10 years ago—a Bigfoot that squeezes smaller competitors. A former lieutenant of Steve Jobs’s once told me something surprising about his ex-boss. “Steve is a monopolist at heart,” he said. “He’s just like Bill Gates. He just hasn’t been as successful.”

Gone are the days where Apple was the hip underdog. Now they’re becoming the cool monopoly, and I’m fine with it so long as their products stay fresh and the prices remain competive.

The paltry entry on video games from the Microsoft-owned encyclopedia currently has only one sentence regarding Wii’s popularity: “The introduction of Wii made Nintendo once again a major player in the video game industry.”

That’s accurate. And I wouldn’t expect up to date specifics — this isn’t Wikipedia, after all. But the language seems to deemphasize reality upon further reading from the same paragraph which quickly shifts gears:

IDG News (whom I freelance for) reports: “Microsoft’s brand power has been in sharp decline over the past four years, an indication the company is losing credibility and mindshare with U.S. business users, according to a recent study by market research firm CoreBrand.”

The latest skirmish in the console wars took place this weekend, at the Mission District’s ultra-hip Foreign Cinema. That’s where Microsoft offered the gaming media a hands-on media preview of Halo 3, one of gaming’s most anticipated titles— and the company’s bid to expand their broadband audience.

Make no mistake about it, though the PS3 trails far behind and the Wii isn’t a direct competitor, the 360’s position as the HDTV-powered next gen champ is far from assured. The console has sold 10 million units to date since first launching 18 months ago, and claims six million online members to its Live service. It is hard to say how many of those are paying members, and how many are part of trial or some giveaway.